1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to ink jet printers, and more particularly to an improved method and apparatus for handling sheet materials in an ink jet printer in which the sheet material is stored within an imaging drum and is arranged to feed to the outer surface of the drum where writing or imaging operations occur.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
In ink jet printers of the type in which paper, or other sheet material, is fed from a continuous roll into the reproducing equipment and is cut into individual sheets after the imaging operation, it is important to synchronize the various steps in the operation and to provide a reliable and economical control system. Complex control systems have been proposed for this function, but none have combined the properties of reliability, simplicity and low production cost.
Mechanisms for storing sheet materials within an imaging drum are shown in the following U.S. Pat. Nos.: 866,624 to Collier; 4,239,375 to Eisben et al.; 4,231,652 to Moser et al., 4,102,570 to Shimoda; 4,097,138 to Kingsley; 4,068,992 to Buchel, 626,556 to Nolan; and 3,829,208 to van Meljel. None of these patents shows the details of sequential operations for handling sheet materials in which the sheet materials are to be ejected from the drum rather than returned to its interior. The van Meljel patent is the only one that shows any arrangement for ejecting the medium from the drum for disposal or other use.